Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey is an American technology entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter (now X) and the founder and CEO of Block Inc. (formerly Square). Dorsey is widely recognized in the financial technology sector as one of the most prominent “Bitcoin maximalists,” advocating for Bitcoin as the native currency of the internet. Unlike many of his peers in Silicon Valley, Dorsey has frequently criticized the broader “crypto” and “Web3” ecosystems, arguing that they are often centralized schemes controlled by venture capitalists rather than truly decentralized protocols.

Overview

Dorsey’s career has been defined by his dual impact on social media and financial payments. After resigning as CEO of Twitter in November 2021, he shifted his primary focus to Block Inc. and the development of open-source Bitcoin infrastructure. His philosophy centers on the belief that the internet requires a native currency (Bitcoin) and open protocols for communication (such as Nostr) to remain free and censorship-resistant.

Dorsey famously distinguishes between Bitcoin and “crypto,” often stating, “Bitcoin changes everything,” while dismissing other digital assets. This conviction has driven Block Inc. to pivot its strategy toward building the hardware and software necessary to make Bitcoin usable for daily commerce and mining.

Block Inc. and Bitcoin Infrastructure

Under Dorsey’s leadership, Block Inc. (formerly Square) has integrated Bitcoin into its core business lines. The company’s “Bitcoin Strategy” focuses on closing the loop between earning, saving, and spending BTC.

• Cash App: A dominant mobile payment service that allows millions of users to buy, sell, and withdraw Bitcoin easily. It has also implemented the Lightning Network for faster, cheaper transactions.
• Bitkey: A self-custody hardware wallet launched by Block to help users securely hold their own Bitcoin, reflecting Dorsey’s ethos of “not your keys, not your coins.”
• Mining (Proto): In late 2024 and 2025, Dorsey redirected Block's resources toward developing proprietary Bitcoin mining chips and a modular mining rig (Project Proto). This initiative aims to decentralize the mining hardware supply chain, which has historically been dominated by a few manufacturers.
• Spiral: An independent, open-source initiative funded by Block that builds developer kits (LDK) to accelerate the adoption of the Lightning Network.

Web5 and Nostr

Dorsey has been a vocal critic of “Web3,” a term popularized by venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). He argued that Web3 interfaces are often centralized points of failure owned by VCs. In response, he proposed “Web5,” a platform designed to let users own their identity and data using Bitcoin’s underlying technology. However, in late 2024, reports indicated that Block began winding down its specific “TBD” business unit (which was building Web5) to double down on its Bitcoin mining and wallet initiatives.

Parallel to his corporate work, Dorsey is a major benefactor of Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays), a decentralized protocol for censorship-resistant social media. Through his “and Other Stuff” fund and personal donations, he has supported the development of Nostr clients like Damus, viewing the protocol as the spiritual successor to what Twitter was originally meant to be.

Twitter and Bluesky

Dorsey co-founded Twitter in 2006 and sent the first-ever tweet. During his second tenure as CEO (2015–2021), he oversaw the platform's growth but faced intense scrutiny regarding content moderation and censorship. Before leaving, he initiated Bluesky, a project to create a decentralized social network standard.

However, after leaving the Twitter board in 2022, Dorsey distanced himself from Bluesky, deleting his account and criticizing the project for repeating the mistakes of traditional corporate platforms by implementing centralized moderation tools. He subsequently endorsed Nostr as the only truly open alternative.

Controversies and Risks

Dorsey’s maximalist stance often puts him at odds with the broader cryptocurrency industry, particularly the Ethereum community, with whom he has engaged in public spats regarding the centralization of smart contract platforms.

In 2023, his company Block was the subject of a short-seller report by Hindenburg Research, which alleged that Cash App facilitated fraud and that user metrics were inflated. Dorsey and Block denied the allegations, stating the report was designed to deceive and confuse investors, and the company’s stock has continued to trade based on its earnings performance and Bitcoin integration progress.

• Block Founder & CEO
• Cash App Creator